VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (letter).

Death payment

June 09, 2001|By Beth Hirschfield.

Chicago — When the U.S. missionary plane was shot down in error over Peru by a Peruvian air force anti-drugs patrol, killing a missionary woman and infant, I was impressed by the surviving husband's decision to avoid legal action. In contrast, Raymond Smith, the companion and driver with litany Haggerty, seeks $400,000 in damages for becoming frightened ("Driver of LaTanya Haggerty car sues cops," Metro, June 5)? Call it a wild guess, but perhaps the incident would have been less terrifying had Mr. Smith not led the police on a 31-block chase after ignoring little details like his window being "violently hit" by an officer's fist and warning shots being fired. And if the terror was so instantaneous, why on Earth did it take two years to file a lawsuit? A cynic might suspect it had something to do with the wrongful death payment awarded Ms. Haggerty's family.

Indeed this bright young woman's death was tragic, but capitalizing on it? Some kind of friend.